BOYS LACROSSE
With a new coach this season, the Episcopal Academy Boys Lacrosse team has had quite a season so far. Despite a couple close loses, they ended the regular season with a record of 10-4 after a huge win against Malvern last Friday. With Coach Bates and the senior class leading this team, they have grown to “play as a unit”, says Coach Bates. The main contributor to the team’s success has been the senior class. They have led this team with great pride as well as keeping them focused throughout the process. The captains Jake Martellucci, Connor Ringwalt, and Connor Delaney have led this team to victory as well as the other seniors. “Jake Martellucci has been a steady contributor and plays hard every day” says Coach Bates. “Connor Ringwalt has consistently scored goals for us, along with CJ Mcanally” says Coach Bates. “Connor Delaney has been as good at his position as anyone in our league. He has been an impact player game in game out” says Coach Bates. They have experienced tough loses especially the 2nd game against Haverford, however, they won against Malvern at home which was the most gratifying win for them. Although their regular season just ended, they still have the Inter- Ac Invitational which includes all the Inter-Ac teams as well as 8 other teams. The Boys lacrosse team showed that they really are a force to be reckoned with this season and they plan to keep improving until they win the title.
-Michael Zeng ‘19
GOLF
This year EA’s girls golf team was able to break their record of 223 by shooting first a 220 against Agnes Irwin followed by a 213 against Springside Chestnut Hill, the lowest total score EA Girls Golf has ever achieved. With a 5-3 record he girls scoring averages in matches dropped over 8 strokes. At the Baldwin match Anabelle Wondrasch ‘18, Abby Baggini ‘18, Mary-Kate Chambers ‘18, and Camila Stapleton ‘19 were all able to shoot their personal lows. Several of her teammates identified Lauren Jones ‘21 as being a standout player this season as an 8th grader and consistently the lowest scorer throughout the 2017 season. She averaged 43 over 7 matches, qualifying her for Inter Ac Individual Championship.
To qualify for Individual Championship, a player must play in at least 6 matches and their scores must add up to be below 300. This year six of the players on the team have qualified: Anabelle Wondrasch ‘18, Abby Baginni ‘18, Mary-Kate Chambers ‘18, Camila Stapleton ‘19, and Amanda Jones ‘20 and Lauren Jones ‘21. Captain Lexie Rider ‘17 made sure to highlight the juniors on the team for stepping up this year. “Many of them were able to shoot their personal lowest score, and all of them qualified for Champs. They rose to the occasion each and every match leading to several victories, they’re definitely ready to lead the team next year.” Coach Farrell also expressed how proud she was of the team this season, but noted progress among league competitors: “In order to continue our growth as a program, it will be very important for everyone to work on their game in the off season.”
-Ella Zomber ‘19
BOYS BASEBALL
With a current record of 13 Losses and 12 wins, the Episcopal Academy Churchmen have had a season full of highs and lows. Some of the highlights of the 2017 season so far include a 5-1 win over Haverford on the 12th of April and a 5 – 3 win against Malvern on May 11th. Another highlight includes the game against St. Joseph Prep, where the Churchmen recovered from a 6 run lead by scoring 5 runs in the fifth inning and 8 runs in the sixth inning to win the game 13-8. Will Park (‘18), who debuted as the first base coach this season, said, “I think winning against malvern was definitely a highlight and losing 5 games in the league was kinda of disappointing.” Jack O’Reilly (‘19) said, “I would say that the highlights of our season would be our league wins against Malvern and Haverford. Also our weekend win over Archbishop Carrol was a definite highlight.” Looking forward, the team faces many other competitions including a second game with Malvern and the PAISAA Tournament. When asked about the rest of the season, Head Coach Michael Hickey replied, “We haven’t made it to the final four of the independent school tournament within recent memory, so I hope that this year we do.”
Individually, several members of the team had distinguishable levels of success in multiple categories. In the opinion of several leadership figures on the team Kyle Virbitsky (‘17), Jack O’Reilly (‘19) and Isaiah Payton (‘18) have been key players throughout the season. Virbitsky (#12) has had continued success from last year both on the pitcher’s mound and up to bat, including two homerun hits against Haverford. O’Reilly (#30) has shown himself to be one of the best hitters on the team, typically hitting third in the batting order which is generally reserved for a player with a high batting average. Payton (#9) has had a lot of success in the field, where he generally plays shortstop, and up to bat, where he typically bats first as the leadoff batter. All three players have frequented the pitcher’s mound. Will Park said, “ I’d say some key players would be Virbitsky on the mound, Payton in the field, and O’Reilly’s our best hitter.” So far the 2017 Episcopal Academy Baseball season has been fairly successful.
-Eleanor Campbell ‘19
BOYS TENNIS
The EA Varsity tennis team has had a very good year this year finishing with a record of 10-3 and winning the George C Shafer Doubles Championship. This years captains, Max Guo and Phillip Tobar, had high praises from their coaches when Coach Kent said, “Tobar and Guo lead both by word and example. Their dominance as partners was evident every time they walked out on the court, whether in a match or simply in practice.” After competing with this duo, it becomes evident that they both work hard every time they step out onto the court. As a doubles team they are able to play off each others strengths which lead to their many victories. Max’s and Phillips highlight for this season was winning the George C Shafer tournament at EA. Phillip Tobar said, “It was a big tournament to honor coaching legend George Shafer and winning it meant a lot to our school and program.” Max Guo added, “It was a privilege to take a picture with his wife and honoring the biggest influence on the EA tennis program (George Shafer) by winning the tournament named after him in his honor.” Coach Kent explained that their success was built on the ‘all for one and one for all’ mentality. The tennis team had much success this year and their other coach, Coach Powell, explained how he stressed the importance of living in the present and not in the past. The EA varsity tennis team had many wins but could not beat Haverford, which in Coach Powell’s opinion was the hardest loss. Coach Powell said, “All losses are difficult but if I have to pick one, it would be the second Haverford match when we lost 3-4 with the deciding match coming down to a 3rd set. Haverford has been a dominant force in the league, area, state for the past 3 years and we had them on the ropes. We just didn’t win the key points that mattered the most.” Despite the three losses this year, Episcopal’s tennis team has had much success over the last couple years and as a program we are trending upwards. Coach Kent believes the future is very bright because of the talent from the top of JV tennis and middle school as well. Also, next year the team will have 6 seniors leading the way for the tennis team which puts EA in a good position to win the InterAc next year and years to come.
-Alec Austin ‘19
GIRLS SOFTBALL
The 2017 Varsity Softball team proved their strength throughout the season this year. Battling the league’s top teams, the girls this season have demonstrated their ability to work together and never back down. The team was led by seniors: Piper Hartman, Riley Wright, Maya Johnston, Ariana Feliziani, and Brooke Royer, who all quickly became role models for the younger players on the team. Following the footsteps of beloved former coach, Coach Terrence Coyne, Mrs. Kelly Edwards has led the team to many victories in her first season. Talking about her favorite part of the team, Coach Edwards says that “There is something special about this team, in the sense that there chemistry is amazing…They get along so well, they root for each other, they are honest with each other, but they push each other to be better players.” In addition to having great chemistry, Coach Edwards also admires “their willingness to keep continuing to be gritty” and ability to “focus on the prize , which is winning states this year at PAISAA.
The team’s drive and talent was evident, especially after their trip to Florida over spring break. The team hitting average was .328, demonstrating their talent at bat. After a tough loss to Penn Charter, the girls were determined to gain the upper hand in their next meeting. They hit a winning streak, defeating Marple 7-6, Baldwin 15-3, on senior day GA 18-3, AIS 15-7, and on their last game against Baldwin 18-5. During the first round of PAISAA, they took the upperhand against Germantown Friends School, 11-1. Moving onto semifinals, the team defeated SCH in during the extra 8th inning 4-3. Their road to victory continues on Tuesday at Westtown.
-Sydney Zebrowitz ‘19
BOYS TRACK
2017 has been a growing season for the EA boys track team, finishing 2-2 in the Interac. “We are a younger team, this year, so we are just trying to make sure there’s a future for the track,” said captain Jermaine Rhoden ‘17. This year the team has been focusing on the process, working hard, day in and day out. With hard work each day comes great reward, as shown by the 4×800 team of Elias Lindgren ‘18, Jake Jorgensen ‘17, Carson Fischer ‘19, and Jeff Coote ‘17 breaking the long-standing school record of 3:26:32 at PAISSA. Jake Jorgensen ‘17, co-captain, was looking forward to PAISSA as a “good way to end our season with some personal records and wins.” EA finished PAISSA in 7th place.
As echoed by Chris Zimmerman ‘19, in track, “ Even though you’re running an individual race, you’re still a part of the team.” Many runners have stood out this season according to coach Tom Greenwood and coach Hark, like Jack Bush ‘19 in the 400 and Matt Freese ‘17 in the 200 and hurdles. “Elias Lindgren ‘18 has also smashed some records and racked up points for the team,” notes Rhoden. EA pulled through in Delcos, medaling in many events and many runners came away with multiple medals. This year, the track team has “shown a lot of heart” but Interacs was a “hard loss because we certainly had a chance,” said Jorgensen. Although EA has a young team, the hard work and determination of both the upper and underclassmen is what allowed the team to come away with many personal bests. However, as said by Simon Smerconish ‘19, “The best part of track season thus far has definitely been the running.”
-Parisa Afsharian ‘19
GIRLS AND BOYS CREW – Theo
The Boys Varsity Crew team has had an outstanding season. This year, the varsity team rowed a Boys Varsity 8+, reuniting a past Novice 8+ from a few years ago, with the implementation of Sophomore Harry Pusey. This boat had an amazing year of rowing, which isn’t over yet. The Varsity boys did well in the manny flicks during the year, but they won City Championships. They also came 5th at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, making an appearance in Finals as the only Philadelphia-area high school. The Stotesbury Cup Regatta is the largest and most prestigious high school regatta in the world.
The girls varsity program, coached by Mr. Maier, also had a very successful season. The girls team rowed a Varsity 4x, 4+ and 2x. The girls crew team performed well during the season, and they also did very well at City Championships. The Varsity 4x came 3rd at City Championships, and the Varsity 2x came 2nd at City Championships. At Stotesbury, all 3 of the boats rowed well. Seniors Lizzie King and Heidi Zirnkilton once again led their 2x to a victory when they won 2nd place at Stotesbury.
The novice and JV programs show a promising future for EA’s rowing program, with a wide selection of talented rowers. When asked what value has been most important to the team, the coach of the boys crew team, Mrs. Konopka, answered with teamwork: “A team is only as strong as all of its members, everyone has to support each other, boats work best when people work together.”
-Theo Vadot ‘19